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Internet trolls 'Zoom bomb' Hall County Democratic Party meeting

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Published  August 25, 2020 6:57pm EDT
Georgia Politics
FOX 5 Atlanta

Hackers interrupt candidate Zoom meeting

Hackers interrupted a virtual Zoom meeting hosted by the Hall County Democratic Party and featuring Rev. Raphael Warnock, who is a Democratic candidate for Senate, as a guest speaker.

HALL COUNTY, Ga. - Internet trolls targeted the Hall County Democratic Party during their Zoom meeting Monday night. Hackers unleashed racial slurs and profanity during an appearance by Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Rev. Raphael Warnock.

"Sadly, there were those who were given to hate and bigotry who tried to disrupt the meeting, who decided to disrupt the meeting," Warnock told FOX 5's Deidra Dukes. "They may have interrupted us. They cannot stop us."

The Hall County Democratic Party shared photos which captured the racial slurs and profanity that scrolled across computer screens as the candidate addressed attendees.

Warnock tweeted following the event, "A hateful few won't stop us from going everywhere and speaking to everyone. It is more important than ever to hear each other out--that's what I'll do in the Senate. Thank you, Hall County Democrats, for staying in the fight."

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Hall County Democratic Committee Member Leigh Miller said the "Zoom bombing" appeared to be a coordinated attack carried out by a group of hackers.

"They would take the name of someone who was already in there and then flash a pornographic image, or an image of a swastika, and they started saying the n-word really loudly," Miller said.

Hall County Democratic Party officials posted a statement on their website noting those who participated in the virtual meeting were subjected to a disgusting display of hatred saying quote: " We are putting additional security measures in place to prevent such a thing from happening again. This will require that our members perform a few ‘security checks’ before getting into a meeting."

As for Warnock, the candidate vows he won't be distracted by hatemongers. He remains focused on his Senate campaign and the issues important to Georgia voters.

"That's what I'm about. That's what I've always been about and that won't change as a result of some confused individuals who had nothing else to do but play on the computer on a random Monday night."

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